Dr. Meg Lowman will be appearing at the “Rainforest Rendezvous: So Much Yet to Discover” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bolz Conservatory. Details are below. For more info visit olbrich.org.
“CANOPY MEG” PRESENTATIONS
Saturday, November 12
Monkeys, Millipedes, and Medicine – Meet “Canopy Meg”
How would you get to the top of a really tall tree? “Canopy Meg” uses hot air balloons, rope ladders, bridges, blimps, and cranes to study rainforest canopies.
Scientists like Meg work as detectives to find all the things hiding in a forest canopy – like millions of beetles! Tropical rainforests are not only home to monkeys, millipedes, and many, many insects, but they also produce important things we use in our everyday lives – medicines, foods, construction materials, fabrics, and oxygen, are just a few.
“Visit” some of the world’s most special rainforests with Meg to find out what it’s like to work in the tops of thos tropical trees and why so many creatures live way up there. Book signing will follow the presentation. For grades 3 and up with an adult; each attendee pays the registration fee. Advanced registration required. Call 608-246-4550 to register.
Saturday, November 12, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Registration Deadline: Drop-ins welcome; pre-registration preferred
$10/$8 Olbrich member
Out on a Limb – Exploring Tropical Rainforest Canopies
Adults can meet scientist Meg Lowman, one of the world’s first “arbornauts,” who uses all sorts of structures to explore tropical treetops, home to approximately half of planet Earth’s biodiversity. This exploration has demonstrated that forest canopies provide ecological services to all of use – climate regulation, medicines, food, fresh water cycling, and cultrual heritage are just a few. New ways to get into the treetops have also inspired ecotourism, as well as the sustainable harvest of fruits, medicines, and other products.
Lowman, also known as “Canopy Meg,” pioneered the field of canopy research while raising two boys in the rainforest. She continues her work to “map” the canopy and to champion forest conservation around the world. Book signing after the presentation. Advanced registration required. Call 608-246-4550 to register.
Saturday, November 12, 1:30 – 3:15 p.m.
Registration Deadline: Drop-ins welcome; pre-registration preferred
$15/$12 Olbrich member
Media Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — September 13, 2011 Contact:Emelia.Cowans@ncdenr.gov; 919.733.7450, ext. 305
BugFest Critter Cook-off to feature the culinary stylings of local chefs from the Angus Barn and Sono
(RALEIGH) — The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ annual BugFest Critter Cook-off, the official start to BugFest 2011, kicks off on Friday, September 16 at 11 a.m. in the Treasures Hall of the Museum. This Iron-Chef style media preview has been a crowd pleaser for more than ten years. Chef Jim Long, Executive Sous Chef at the Angus Barn will compete against Chef Michael Lee, Executive Chef of Sono Sushi for the title of BugFest Critter Cook-off Champion 2011! Media and the public are invited to attend.
Each chef has 50 minutes to create an appetizer, entrée, dessert and mystery dish using mealworms (mealworm beetle larvae), wax worms (caterpillar larvae of wax moths), crickets, super worms (darkling beetle larvae) and a “mystery” bug. Each dish will be judged on taste, originality and presentation. The chef whose buggy grub wows our panel of celebrity judges earns the title of BugFest Critter Cook-off Champion 2011!
Returning this year is a panel of esteemed, seasoned bug eaters! Steve Daniels, ABC-11; Karen Clark, Foxy 107/104; Penn Holderness, NBC-17 and Director of the Museum’s new wing, the Nature Research Center, Dr. Meg Lowman are indeed in for a treat! Zack Lemann, Staff Entomologist at the Audubon Insectarium and a judge from last year, will be our special guest. Lemann considers himself an entomophagist, a person well-versed in the world of bug dining, and will give several bug-cooking demonstrations for the public on Saturday at BugFest!
BugFest 2011, the largest single-day bug centered event in the country, takes place on Saturday, September 17 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with free admission and activities. Friday’s Critter Cook-off will last about an hour, with opportunities for the media to interview chefs and judges and sample the critter concoctions.
BugFest Critter Cook-off 2011
Chef Bios
Michael Lee, Executive Chef, Sono, Raleigh Michael Lee is the Chef/Owner of Sono Japanese Restaurant in downtown Raleigh. He started his apprenticeship in 1994 under a master Washoku chef. Working at local restaurants even during his high school years has helped him to learn fast and adapt to the unique style of Japanese cooking . After years of training and working as an executive chef to help open many successful restaurants around the country, Chef Michael opened Sono in 2007. Since then he has been working hard to adapt and create cuisines that are unique and local to satisfy the taste buds of the triangle
Jim Long, Executive Sous Chef, Angus Barn, Raleigh Jim Long is a 1992 graduate of Wake Technical Community College’s culinary program and has worked at the Angus Barn for nearly 20 years. He’s been Sous Chef to Iron-Chef Walter Royal for 15 years. Royal defeated Iron-Chef Cat Cora in 2006.
Judge Bios
Dr. Meg Lowman, Director, Nature Research Center at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Meg Lowman pioneered the science of canopy ecology. For 30 years, she has designed hot-air balloons and walkways for treetop exploration to solve mysteries in the world’s forests, with special expertise on the links between insect pests and ecosystem health. Meg is affectionately called the “Mother of Canopy Research” as one of the first scientists to explore this “eighth continent.”
Steve Daniels, Anchor, ABC-11 Steve Daniels just can’t get enough of those buggy dishes, returning as a judge for the 3rd year. Steve is co-anchor of the ABC-TV 11 Eyewitness News. Prior to coming to the Triangle, he traveled the country and the world reporting stories for “Dateline NBC.” Steve has also been a contributor on the “Today” show, “NBC Nightly News,” MSNBC and CNBC. He’s won seven Emmys and several other national awards for outstanding investigative reporting.
Karen Clark, News & Public Affairs, Foxy 107/104, Radio One Raleigh Karen Clark is a graduate of the School of Journalism at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before she began working with Foxy 107/104, Karen pursued a commercial broadcast career, and then moved into the music industry as the Promotions Manager with Columbia Records. After seven years in the music industry, Karen started Something Borrowed, Something Blue, a wedding and event planning company based in Raleigh.
Penn Holderness, Anchor, NBC-17 Penn Holderness is a Durham native and graduate of Durham Jordan High School. Penn went to college at the University of Virginia and majored in philosophy, but took a crack at journalism after graduation as an intern for the WTVD ABC11 sports department. His first on-air job in was in Grand Junction, Colorado, then Penn moved to Orlando for five years. He hosted three seasons of "Designer Finals" on HGTV and hosted a college hoops show on CSTV with former Tar Heel Coach Matt Doherty. Most recently, Penn worked as a video essayist for ABC and ESPN while living in New York. Penn, his wife and two kids are thrilled to be back in the Triangle, closer to their families who reside in the area.
Special Guest
Zack Lemann, Visitor Programs Manager for the Audubon Insectarium Zack Lemann, a former BugFest Critter Cook-off chef, is lending his expertise this year as a judge. Zack has appeared on numerous TV programs, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Maury Povich Show, and The Today Show, introducing the public to his unique passion of bug cooking. Zack travels the world as a “bug chef,” spreading the word about a diet of the planet’s most plentiful source of protein.
PROGRAM FEATURES
“This is a non-stop workshop full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
Unique, active, and fun! This expedition is an eye-opening introduction to the environmental and cultural aspects of the Amazon Rainforest and river system in the Amazon basin of Northern Peru. The program is safe, comfortable, and accessible, offering the opportunity for many intercultural interactions, plus science and service field experiences:
Work side-by-side with scientists on research in of one of the most biologically diverse environments on the planet.
Ascend over 115 feet on a 1/4-mile Rainforest Canopy Walkway, one of the few of its kind in the New World.
Interact with indigenous people and see how they use the forest for medicine, food, and shelter.
Contribute to a Community Service Project to benefit people who live in a village along the Amazon River.
Use hand lenses, binoculars, maps, taxonomic keys for identification, and simple field equipment with the help of our experienced Naturalist Guides to learn about:
Dr. Meg Lowman will speak from noon to 1 p.m. Friday (7/22/2011) at the Meg Lowman Treetops Camp for at-risk girls at Tanglewood Nature Center & Museum, 443 Coleman Ave. in Big Flats.
Lowman will talk about her career and latest adventures.
Admission is $10 for the public, $5 for members and free to Meg Lowman campers and their guests.
In late March and early April of 2011, an expedition team including NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, and University of Chicago found a gang of us exploring the northeastern coastline of South America — starting in Brazil and ending up in the Dutch Antilles. As I sampled herbivory in the canopy from point to point, others were more interested in reptiles, geology, or birds! The regions of the Orinoco River close to its mouth were so disappointing in terms of human clearing, but highlights included Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, and the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad.
Some video of this transect along the coastline of South America is below:
Margaret “Meg” Lowman, PhD, an author, adventurer, educator, and ecologist with 30 years of experience exploring the unseen world of biodiversity that exists in rainforest canopies, will deliver Carleton College’s weekly convocation address on Friday, April 22 at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. Entitled “Life in the Treetops: Conservation of the World’s Rain Forests,” Lowman’s presentation is free and open to the public.
AMAZON RAINFOREST WORKSHOP
Group Leader – Dr. Meg Lowman, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
with Dr. Phil Wittman, Canopy Quest and D.C. Randle, St. Francis High School
JULY 5-14, 2011 door-to-door
PROGRAM FEATURES “This is a non-stop workshop full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
Unique, active, and fun! This expedition is an eye-opening introduction to the environmental and cultural aspects of the Amazon Rainforest and river system in the Amazon basin of Northern Peru. The program is safe, comfortable, and accessible, offering the opportunity for many intercultural interactions, plus science and service field experiences:
Work side-by-side with scientists in of one of the most biologically diverse environments on the planet.
Ascend over 115 feet on a 1/4-mile Rainforest Canopy Walkway, one of the few of its kind in the New World.
Interact with indigenous people and see how they use the forest for medicine, food, and shelter.
Contribute to a Community Service Project to benefit people who live in a village along the Amazon River.
Use hand lenses, binoculars, maps, taxonomic keys for identification, and simple field equipment with the help of our experienced
Naturalist Guides to learn about:
Insect Camouflage & Mimicry • Neotropical Butterflies • Rainforest Canopy Research • Reptiles and Amphibians • Medicinal Plants • Orchids & Bromeliads • Amazon River System • Neotropical Birds & Migration
Speaker: Dr. Margaret D. Lowman Date: January 28, 2011 Time: 4 pm Venue: ATREE Auditorium in Bangalore, India Title: UN Year of the Forest – inspiring new stakeholders to reverse deforestation
Abstract:
Rates of tropical deforestation continue to accelerate, and yet the United Nations has declared 2011 as the International Year of the Forest. Our conventional mechanisms of conservation have not been effective over the past several decades, so new and innovative solutions to reverse forest degradation are required. As a canopy biologist with over 30 years of experience, I discuss ways to leverage research and education outreach for conservation purposes. First, partnerships with non-traditional stakeholders are an emerging mechanism for success i.e., religious leaders, corporate and business partners, and engaging women in science are illustrated by case studies. Second, the inclusion of education and broader science communication as an essential component of my research – in particular the involvement of children as future stakeholders and increasing use of social media – have proven effective. The field of canopy science, with its creative toolkit of walkways and ropes that also foster ecotourism, can enhance forest conservation through the integration of economics and ecology to a growing diversity of stakeholders.
Affiliation:
Dr. Lowman is the Director of the Nature Research Centre at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Professor at North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC. She also serves as Vice President of The Explorers Club; Vice President of the Ecological Society of America; Executive Director of Florida’s TREE Foundation; and Cluster Chair for the Sarasota Economic Development Corporation.
An article in DNA India about the launch of Krishnamurthy’s new book, The Fragile Forest: Inside Brazilian Amazonia (which includes a chapter written by Meg Lowman):
The Amazon rain forest is contrary to the way it was represented in Hollywood movie Anaconda. If explorer, writer and photographer Bhaskar D Krishnamurthy is to be believed, it is nice and not dangerous.
Anacondas, said he, were docile and when full and resting, people can even touch them. “It is very different from Nagarhole and Bandipur tiger reserves,” said Krishnamurthy, the author of The Fragile Forest: Inside Brazilian Amazonia, speaking at the launch of his book on Wednesday at Strand Book stall in Manipal Centre.
